The road team went 2-0 in the NFC wild-card playoffs on Sunday. The Seattle Seahawks shut down the Philadelphia Eagles' short-handed passing attack and the Minnesota Vikings extended their season by defeating the New Orleans Saints in overtime. Russell Wilson threw a 53-yard touchdown pass to DK Metcalf and Marshawn Lynch had a rushing score as the Seahawks beat the Eagles, 17-9 in Philadelphia.
Wilson threw for 325 yards and led the team with 45 yards rushing. Metcalf had seven catches for 160 yards. The Seahawks had a season-high seven sacks from six players, but the biggest hit was provided by Jadeveon Clowney. He knocked out quarterback Carson Wentz with a helmet-to-helmet hit in Philadelphia's second series. Josh McCown replaced Wentz and was 18 of 24 for 174 yards, but he couldn't get the Eagles into the end zone. The Seahawks now prepare to play the Packers in Green Bay.
In New Orleans, the Vikings blew a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter before Kirk Cousins hit tight end Kyle Rudolph for a four-yard touchdown on the first possession of overtime to give Minnesota a 26-20 victory against the Saints. Dalvin Cook gained 130 yards from scrimmage and scored a pair of touchdowns that put the Vikings ahead, 20-10. Cousins finished with 242 yards, highlighted by his 43-yard completion to Adam Thielen that put the ball on the Saints 2-yard line. Cousins furnished his lone scoring pass of the game three plays later to send the Minnesota to the NFC divisional round against the 49ers in San Francisco. Drew Brees was 26 of 33 for 208 yards, including a 20-yard scoring strike to Taysom Hill that got the Saints within 20-17 with 10:31 left in the fourth quarter. Will Lutz forced OT by nailing a 49-yard field goal with two seconds remaining in regulation.
In NFL news, the Jason Garrett era is over in Dallas. The Cowboys have announced that Garrett is out as head coach after missing the playoffs with an underachieving team. The Cowboys finished 8-8 in the final year of Garrett's contract, missing the playoffs by one game. It's the fourth time Dallas finished 8-8 and missed the postseason under the 53-year-old coach, who was 85-67 at the helm. Garrett had the second-longest tenure with the franchise at 9½ seasons behind Tom Landry's 29 years. Garrett took over when Wade Phillips was fired halfway through the 2010 season.
NBA
The Los Angeles Clippers' defense wasn't much better on Sunday than it performed in Saturday's 140-114 loss to the Grizzlies, but the offense was explosive against the Knicks. Montrezl Harrell, Paul George and Lou Williams combined for 98 points as the Clippers held off New York, 135-132. Harrell had a team-high 34 points off the bench on 13 of 21 shooting for Los Angeles, which trailed 45-29 after one period. Williams was 6 of 10 from 3-point range in scoring 32 points. George hit five of his six 3-point attempts and had 32 points before fouling out with the Clippers leading 121-110 with 7:15 remaining. It's the first time in the Clippers' 50-year franchise history they have had three players with at least 30 points. Marcus Morris had a game-high 38 points and RJ Barrett added 24 for the Knicks.
LeBron James registered his ninth triple-double of the season and 90th of his career by accounting for 21 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists in the Lakers' 106-99 win against the Pistons. Anthony Davis scored 11 of his 24 points in the final 3:40, grabbed 11 boards and had five of the Lakers' 20 blocks. Los Angeles blew a late 11-point lead in a wild fourth quarter and nearly lost to a team with a losing record for the first time all season.
Goran Dragic tied a career high with seven 3-pointers while delivering 29 points and 13 assists in the Heat's 122-111 victory over the Trail Blazers. Bam Adebayo added 20 points on 9-for-10 shooting for Miami, which never trailed in improving to 26-10. Derrick Jones Jr. scored 19 points for the Southeast Division leaders, who got 14 from Kendrick Nunn and 12 points in 22 minutes from little-used James Johnson.
Jonas Valanciunas poured in 30 points and had eight rebounds to lead the Grizzlies to their second straight win, 121-114 at Phoenix. Dillon Brooks chipped in 19 points for Memphis, which outscored the Suns 49-46 over the second and third quarters. The Suns wasted Devin Booker's game-high 40 points in losing for the 10th time in 13 games.
The Timberwolves picked up a 118-103 win over the Cavaliers as Gorgui Dieng scored 22 points and Shabazz Napier had 21. Minnesota blew a 25-point, third-quarter lead and trailed by one before scoring 14 straight, with Dieng dropping two 3-pointers during the five-minute stretch. Andrew Wiggins came back after missing four games with the flu and scored 15 points in the Wolves' fourth victory in 16 games.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
In men’s college basketball, Rider downed Siena 85-77, Saint Peter’s ripped Marist 66-40, Monmouth defeated Iona 73-61, and Saint Louis beat UMass in overtime 83-80.
In women’s college basketball, UAlbany held off Binghamton 56-53, UConn crushed SMU 80-42, and New Hampshire edged Hartford 72-71.
In top-25 basketball, Michigan State has run its winning streak to seven games by dominating their arch-rival. Cassius Winston scored a career-high 32 points and the 14th-ranked Spartans improved to 12-3 overall and 4-0 in the Big Ten by whipping No. 12 Michigan, 87-69. Xavier Tillman fell one point short of his career high with 20 to help Michigan State remain the only Big Ten team without a conference loss. The Spartans were ahead the entire game and led by 13 in the first half before keeping the Wolverines in check. Michigan center Jon Teske fouled out after scoring four of his 15 points in the second half. Brandon Johns matched a career high with 12 points while starting in place of Isaiah Livers, who sat out with a groin injury.
The other top-25 men's basketball game had No. 20 Dayton knocking off Saint Joseph's, 80-67 behind Trey Landers' 18 points. Five different Flyers scored in double figures, including Ryan Mikesell with 16 points. Ibit Watson and Obi Toppin added 15 apiece in Dayton's first win in 10 games at Hawk Hill since Jan. 2000.
NHL
The San Jose Sharks owned a two-goal lead heading into the final minute of regulation Sunday before the Washington Capitals staged an exceptional comeback. Jakub Vrana and T.J. Oshie scored 32 seconds apart to force overtime before Lars Eller tallied at 2:01 of the extra session to give the Caps a 5-4 victory over the Sharks. Eller assisted on Vrana's second goal of the game and made the Capitals the seventh team in NHL history to win a game in which it trailed by two in the final minute of the third period. The rally occurred after Logan Couture provided an empty-netter that appeared to seal the Capitals' fate. The Sharks lost despite Evander Kane's hat trick. He scored all three in the second period, including a power-play goal.
The Lightning picked up their seventh consecutive win as Steven Stamkos had a goal and an assist in their 3-1 victory over the Hurricanes. Mitchell Stephens and Brayden Point also scored and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 28 shots to help Tampa Bay complete its second sweep of a four-game road trip in team history. Stamkos and Stephens tallied in the first five minutes to put the Bolts ahead, 2-0.
The Panthers had dropped eight straight in Pittsburgh before Mike Hoffman provided a goal and an assist in Florida's 4-1 verdict over the Penguins. Brett Connolly scored his 16th of the season and rookie Chris Driedger stopped 31 shots as Florida won in the Steel City for the first time since January 2014. Jared McCann scored his 11th goal and Tristan Jarry finished with 31 saves for the Pens.
Dillon Dube scored in the seventh round of a shootout to complete the Flames' 5-4 victory at Minnesota. Calgary forced overtime on Mark Giordano's power-play goal with 5:28 left in the third period. Marcus Foligno scored twice in the first period for the Wild.
Ryan Getzlaf collected three assists before furnishing the deciding goal in the fifth round of the shootout to send the Ducks past the Predators. Adam Henrique had two goals and an assist for Anaheim, which ended a three-game losing streak despite coughing up a 4-2 lead in the third period. Craig Smith scored twice in Nashville's fourth loss in five games.
Adam Boqvist snapped a third-period tie and Dylan Sikura scored his first NHL goal as the Blackhawks doubled up the Red Wings, 4-2. Dylan Strome also tallied and Corey Crawford stopped 19 shots in Chicago's fourth win in five games. Detroit dropped to 3-18-2 in its last 23 games.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Michigan wide receiver Nico Collins has announced on social media that he's staying in school for his senior season. Collins has 78 receptions for 1,388 yards and 13 touchdowns over his three-year career. He had 37 catches for 729 yards and seven scores last season for the 17th-ranked Wolverines.
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